Improvement in till-locks



Witnesses:

Jim/uff.

Witnesses:

n fw Q56. www

PATENT Ormes..

OYRUS TUCKER, OF LA GROSSE, WISCONSIN.

IMPROVEMENT IN TILL-LOCKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 55,397, dated June 5, 1866.

To all whom t may concern.:

Be it known that 1, OYnUs TUCKER, of La Crosse, in the county of La Grosse and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful lmprovements in Locks for Tills, 85o.; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, like letters indicating like parts wherever they occur. f

'lo enable others skilled in the art to construct and use the invention, I will proceed to describe it.

My invention consists in a novel construction of a lock in which a series of guards is used, and which is so constructed that they may be changed atwill, whereby the lock is so altered that it cannot be opened by any one not understandin g the arrangement.

lt further consists in having a bell so arv ranged that any attempt to open the drawer to which the lock is attached by any one not understanding the arrangement of the lock the bell wi-ll sound an alarm.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section ot' a drawer with the lock attached; Fig. 2, a topplan view of the lock. Figs. 2 and 3 are views of portions detached.

B represents the drawer sliding under the counter or desk A. O represents the side plates of the lock, held together by three rods, a, c, and b. Within this frame is mounted a series of vertical guards, D, in this case six in number, the form of which is shown clearly in Fig. 1. These guards D have a notch, e, cut in their upper ends, and when the guards are all turned or set in the frame the same side foremost the notches@ will coincide, and thus form a continuous opening or groove across the top of the entire series. They have also another notch, t', cut in them near one side, as shown in Fig. 1. These guards also have a notch, or, out in each side toward their lower end, as shown, and when inserted in place within the frame O the spring d presses them over to one side and causes the rod a to enter one of these notches upon which they rest as on a pivot. The lower end of the guards D extend through the bottom of the drawer, and have attached thereto a rod, m, which extends underneath the drawer to the front, and is attached to a lever, p, as shown in Fig. 1.

Abolt, F, (shown detachedin Fig.3,and having vertical arms working in grooves formed on the sides of the frame 0,) is located directly over the guards D in such a position that when the notches o are all in line it will drop down into them. From the upper surface of this bolt F an arm, r, projects, as shown, the object of which will be hereinafter explained.

To the under side of the counter, and within the drawer B, a swinging dog, E, is pivoted upon a rod, o, as shown in Fig. l. This dog has a shoulder, h, against which the arm r of bolt- F strikes when the bolt is raised up, as shown in Fig. 1, and thus prevents the drawer from being opened. As this bolt F is held up by simply resting on the shoulders or ends of the guards D, it is only necessary, in order to unlock the drawer, to so operate the guards as to bring the notches o or t' in line and let the bolt drop down into them, which will bring the arm r below the dog or catch E, and thus permit the drawer to be opened. When the guards are set with the notchz' to the rear, as shown in red in Fig. 1, the notches e will all be in line directly under the bolt F, which is then free to drop down; but in order to preventit from thus being down at all times,which would prevent it from locking against the dog E, one or more of the guards D are turned with their faces to the opposite side, as shown by D3 in l and by D3, D, and DG in Fig. 2. When in this position the bolt F will rest upon the shoulder in rear of notch c, and thus it will be held up so as to cause the arm r to engage with the dog E, as shown in Fig. 1. To unlock it it is only necessary to pull upon the levers p, which are connected to dogs thus turned around, which will throw theirl upper ends over until they strike the rod c, which will bring the notch t' of those guards in line with the notch e ofthe rest of the series, when the holt F will drop therein, and thus, being below the dog E, the drawer can be opened. As shown in Fig. 2, the third, fourth, and sixth guards will need to be thus operated in order to unlock it; but it is obvious that any or all of the series except Dl may be thus turned and made to operate. This guard D has no notch lent in its face, as the others have, but is left full out to the edge, as shown by the blue line in Fig. l, its surface being rounded or beveled from the notch e to its rear edge, so that by pulling the lever@ attached to it this guard D as it tips will act as a wedge or incline to raise the bolt F.

If by mistake or otherwise any other levers are pulled than the right ones for opening the lock, the guards attached thereto will simply tip sufficiently far to let the bolt F rest on the shoulders l, in which ease it is obvious that the drawer cannot be unlocked. When this occurs it is only necessary to pull the lever that operates the guard D', which will raise the bolt F suicient to permit the guards that have been moved to return to their proper position again, the springs d always pressing against them and tending to push them back.

By changing the guards the lock may be varied at will, so that no one who does not understand the combination required for opening it can operate it, the number ot' combinations, of course, depending on the number of guards used, this, with the six gua-rds, being susceptible of over sixty changes.

When the drawer is shoved in after being opened the inclined end of the dog E will engage under the arm r of bolt F. and raise it up out of the notches in the guards D, when the springs d instantl57 return them to their position, so that as the arm passes over the dog E and off at its opposite end it will be caught as it drops upon the shoulders of the operating-guards, and thus held up, as shown in Fig. 1, and made to engage against the shoulder h of the dog E.

A pawl, a, is pivoted above the dog E, as shown, for the purpose of preventing the arm a" from sliding or passing back over the dog in case it should not drop down or pass entirely oft' it, or in case a burglar could by' any means get the arm r back upon the dog, and thus attempt to open it.

A bell, H, is secured to the counter in front of the drawer, as shown, having its hammer g pivoted to a rod, k, which has a spiral spring wound around it. An arm, f, is attached to rod 7o in such a manner that it will yield and permit the arm r to pass it, buty when it is attempted to pull the drawer out the arm i" trips the arm or leverf, and causes the hammer g to strike the bell and sound an alarm, the arm fr at the same time striking against the shoulder hand preventing the drawer from being opened.

By these means I produce a very simple and etleient device. and that can be changed at will, thus rendering it far more secure than ordinary locks.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. The independent guards D, constructed as shown and described, and mounted verticalls,7 in the frame C, as set forth.

2. In combination with the guards D, the bolt F, arranged to move vertically and engage in the notches of the guards, as set forth.

3. In combination with the bolt F, provided with the arm o", the pivoted dog E, arranged to operate as set forth.

4. The pawl n, arranged to operate in combination with the dog E ,and arm W', as herein described.

5. The bell H, having its hammer g, provided with the lever f, arranged to operate in combination with the arm i", as set forth.

' CYRUS TUCKER.

Witnesses:

W. C. DODGE, C. A. STEVENS. 

